


The Second Verse (Of Her Melody)

by Felki



Series: Of Her Melody [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya Cesaire needs to chill, Jagged Stone Guitar Pick, Juleka Apologizes, Lila Rossi Lies, Marinette deserves better, and after the last fic of this series, kind of, takes place the day after heart hunter and miracle queen, the return of Viperion!, things are starting to get better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 21:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21143741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felki/pseuds/Felki
Summary: After the events of last night, Marinette felt better.It was thanks to Luka, of course.So she thought that, maybe if she put the guitar pick he had given her on a string, and wore it as a necklace...It might work as her lucky charm.But of course, Lila was there to spoil everything.(Contains Minor Spoilers of Miracle Queen, and Heart Hunter/Love Eater)





	The Second Verse (Of Her Melody)

**Author's Note:**

> There's a boy with blue and black hair  
On the boat  
In his room are guitar picks  
Of all colors  
Of all designs  
A lucky charm was made of one  
But stolen, it was by a fox.  
So the snake, it gave the lady another.  
And started to lay a trap  
Hoping that it would be  
the Fox's downfall.

"Good morning, Marinette," a voice called from behind her as she walked up the stairway of her school building.

"Oh!" She called, pleasantly surprised. "Good morning Luka, Juleka!!" She responded, nothing to them in greeting. 

Marinette was a little nervous - she didn't know how exactly she should interact with Luka, now that he knew her secret, but she had decided that she would trust the older boy. That she would… just be herself, like the blue-haired boy had told her she could be. 

"Is that…?" Luka trailed off, pointing to his own chest in order to gesture at what she had decided to wear as a necklace. 

"Yeah," Marinette responded, raising her hand to twist the Jagged Stone guitar pick between her fingers. She had poked a hole through it earlier this morning with a needle, and had run a string through it so that she would be able to tie it around her neck, like a necklace. 

"I thought I could use a lucky charm," she murmured, and she felt her cheeks warm a little when Luka smiled. 

A few seconds later, Marinette was walking towards her classroom, her footsteps quiet like Juleka, who was walking beside her.

"My brother gave you that pick?" she asked, tilting her head in Marinette's direction, to gesture at Marinette's new lucky charm. The pick hadn't been doing any good just sitting on her desk, and she knew that she wasn't ever going to use it to play any music, so when Marinette had had the thought to turn it into a lucky charm of sorts, she had been rather proud of herself. Tikki had smiled and told her that it was a good idea, when she had tied the string around her neck for her. 

"Yes," Marinette confirmed, once again playing with the pick. "He said that he had plenty, so I could have it. It was really kind of him." Honestly, the word didn't seem to be enough to really represent Luka. He was better than kind, better than nice. She'd find the right word, given time. 

Juleka gave Marinette a small smile. 

And the day did seem to be better because of it. She didn’t get any outright dirty looks from any of her classmates when she sat down, and she found herself able to, for once, listen to what Mrs. Bustier was saying. Those were things that, before Lila, she would’ve been able to do normally, but it had gotten a little harder for her these days. So the lucky charm around her neck must’ve helped. She twisted it around in her fingers every so often, not noticing the glances that Lila would sometimes make her way as she did so. 

It was a few periods later, while Marinette was packing up so that she could go home to grab lunch, that Alya slammed open the door to the classroom (after having left a little while earlier) and stormed up to Marinette. The rest of her classmates watched her with wide eyes, not expecting a sudden storm of fury from the girl. 

"I can't believe you!!" Alya shouted at Marinette, and Marinette flinched, taking a step back from the brunette.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, not raising her voice to the same level as Alya's. 

"That guitar pick!!" Alya cried, pointing to the lucky charm around Marinette's neck. "I know you don't like Lila, girl, but seriously? You steal the guitar pick that she got signed personally from Jagged Stone, and then you poke a hole through it?" 

"What?" Marinette asked, in shock, just as Lila ran into the room, (fake) panting.

"I said it was okay, Alya!!" she said, leaning forward onto a nearby desk. "It's not Marinette's fault that she's jealous of my connection with Jagged Stone!! I have more at home anyway!!"

"No, Lila, it's not okay!!" Alya responded back, then rushed forward towards Marinette, who couldn't move due to her shock. 

Lila had framed her for stealing, again? And this time, it was something that was Marinette’s, not her own?

"No!" Marinette raised her voice, taking a step back away from the angry Alya. "This is mine!! I didn't steal it from her!!" She then glared at Lila. "Why would I even want one of her things?!" 

"Because you're jealous!" Alya retaliated. "And stealing her Jagged Stone guitar pick is so not cool!!" She swiped her hand forward, grabbing the pick, letting the string tear as she pulled it off of Marinette's neck. Marinette gasped in shock, pain, and genuine physical pain when she felt Alya's nails scratch at her. 

"You should learn to be a kinder person," Alya growled as she walked out of the room, dragging Lila out behind her. No one else noticed when Lila gave the bluenette a smirk as the door closed behind them. 

🐞🐞🐞

“Are you okay, Marinette?” Tikki asked the girl maybe a minute later, when she was standing in front of the sink and running water over a paper towel. 

“I…” Marinette let out a shaky breath. “I’ll be okay.” She brought the paper towel up to her collarbone, where her necklace had sat, and pressed the towle onto the blood that was flowing from the cuts. “I just can’t believe she…” she let her hands relax, looking down at the towel, only staring at the blood. “I can’t believe she…” 

Tikki frowned in worry. “How about we go home for now, Marinette?” she asked, her voice soft, and she put one of her paw things on the tip of Marinette’s finger, in a show of support. 

“Okay,” Marinette whispered. 

🐞🐞🐞

"Marinette, your friend Juleka is here!!" Marinette heard her mother call to her a little while later, when she was curled up into a ball, sitting on her bead. Tikki had been trying to comfort the young Ladybug for minutes, and they had shared worries about an akuma coming to take advantage of her, but Marinette found it impossible to stop the tears that streamed down her cheeks, even if she managed to keep herself almost silent.

"Marinette?" she heard Juleka question as the door on the floor to her room open. "Are you here?"

"Mmhmm," Marinette hummed softly in response. Tikki flew behind the alarm clock on the shelf-like area behind Marinette's bed. So that she'd remain unseen, but still close enough for comfort. 

"Hey," Juleka murmured as she climbed up and sat down next to Marinette on her bed. Her fingers were fidgeting, flexing and unflexing, like she wanted to reach out to the bluenette, but she kept her fingers in her lap. 

Marinette didn't respond, only continuing to look down at her knees. 

"I…" Juleka let out a small sigh. "I owe you an apology. I-I knew that the guitar pick was yours, because Luka gave it to you, so… I knew that it didn't make any sense when Lila claimed that it was hers… and Lila said that it was personally signed by Jagged Stone, even though all it really had was his face. I knew all that, but… I didn't stand up for you. All I did was stand there, and not do anything, despite knowing that what was happening wasn't right. So… I'm sorry." 

Marinette raised her head, looking Juleka in the eyes. "You're… sorry?" she repeated. 

"Yeah," Juleka nodded. "I should've done something to help you, but… I didn't. You've done so much to help me, like when you broke that dumb picture curse, but I… when you needed someone to help you, I didn't. If… if I'm being honest, I believed Lila about how you were just jealous of her, so that we should take anything you say about her with a grain of salt. I know now that I should've trusted you, but..." 

She let out another sigh. "I realized today that I was doing something horrible. That I wasn't helping a friend who deserves all the help and support in the world, who was only trying to help us by calling out Lila on her lies. So… that's why I'm here to apologize." 

"I'm sorry, Marinette." 

🐞🐞🐞

Later that night, while Marinette was sketching new designs for Kitty Section, her phone pinged with a text. 

“It’s from Luka,” Tikki told her, when she flew over to the screen to check. 

"Luka?" Marinette questioned, placing her pencil down onto the page of her sketchbook, and wheeling her chair over to where her phone was charging. 

**Luka: **Hey, Marinette. 

It seemed casual, like a normal friend just checking in on another before they went to bed. Marinette wondered if Juleka had told her brother anything about today's mess. 

**Marinette: **Hey, Luka. How're you doing? 

She was avoiding the question he was going to ask, she knew. She also knew that there was no reason for her to avoid the question, because this was Luka, Luka who she could trust more than anyone else in the world, the Luka who had let her cry into his chest, and vent all her worries to, but… right now… 

**Luka: **I've been okay. How are you? 

... she just really didn't want to talk about it. 

**Marinette: **Yeah. I'm fine. 

She hoped that Luka wouldn’t think she wasn’t trusting him or anything. She didn’t want to hurt Luka’s feelings, especially after he had been so kind to her, especially after he had let her rely on him, even after he had confessed his feelings. 

To be honest, she felt a little guilty about relying on him, since hearing his confession. It felt as if she was taking advantage of him. 

**Luka: **That’s good. I’m glad. 

Marinette stared at her screen for a few seconds more, trying to think of a response. 

**Luka: **Y’know, if Hawkmoth ever tries to come for you, I’ll fight off the akumas. 

Marinette let out a soft chuckle at the words on the screen. Of course he would. It wasn’t like he’d be able to actually do so, now that the identities of the Miraculous Holders had been revealed to Hawkmoth, but… 

**Marinette: **Pfff. I’ll try to remember that. Thanks, Luka. 

Or… or could he? 

**Luka: **:) 

**Luka: **Do you want another guitar pick? I still have plenty. 

Marinette’s eyes widened somewhat as she stared at the screen, from both the idea of Luka’s offer and the shock of her revelation. 

**Marinette: **Really? You’d be okay with giving me another one? 

Was what she texted in reply, as she stood up from her chair, and walked over to the chest that had contained the presents she had made for Adrien’s birthday, years and years in future. There were only a few left, now, as she had started throwing them out, one a day, but there were still enough that the Miracle Box could still be hidden underneath the pile. 

She moved the boxes around, until her hands were gripping the large… oval ball that was had a Ladybug pattern. 

**Luka: **Of course. 

**Luka: ** Would you want me to bring one for you tomorrow at school? Or do you want to come to the _ Liberty _ to choose one? 

Marinette read the texts on her screen, as she grabbed a green bracelet from the box. She raised it towards Tikki, her eyes containing her question as Sass was summoned. 

“Marinette?” Sass questioned, looking towards the young miraculous holder, then turned to the ladybug kwami floating beside him. “Tikki? What is…?” 

“Whatever you think is best, Marinette,” Tikki finally said. “I think it’s a good choice. You should know, though, that the forms that miraculous holders take is based on their own personal wishes. So, when you give him the miraculous, tell him that he has to imagine himself as someone other than Viperion. That way, his identity will remain safe.” 

Sass let out a gasp. “You’re going to…?” he trailed off, looking at Marinette, but she was already typing up her reply to the blue-haired boy in question. 

**Marinette: ** … Could I go to the _ Liberty? _

Luka’s reply was immediate. 

**Luka: **Sure. When do you want to come? 

**Marinette: **Does now work? 

**Luka: **Oh. Sure. 

“Spots on,” Marinette murmured. 

She made sure to put her dummy in her bed before she left, swinging on her yoyo in the direction of the _ Liberty _. 

“Hey,” Marinette whispered when she was at the doorway to Luka’s cabin. She had snuck down the stairs towards his room, not detransforming, as she knew that her clumsiness as Marinette would surely wake up the others who lived in the houseboat. She was lucky that the suit enhanced her grace, and her stealth. 

“Hey,” Luka responded, standing up from where he had been crouched, and kicking a few clothes under his bed. “I thought I’d have a little more time,” he chuckled, and Marinette gave him a small smile. 

“Sorry,” she said. 

“Nah, it’s not your fault,” he whispered back. “Despite what my Mom says, I should probably make an effort to clean my things up, sometimes.” 

He walked over to the wall behind him, gesturing to Marinette to come see. Marinette walked closer, looking at the guitar picks he had on the wall, underneath his poster of Jagged Stone. They all seemed to be in the same places they had been last time… though the slot for the one that he had given Marinette before was empty. 

“Which one?” he asked, watching Marinette with kind eyes. 

“I like this one,” she said, pointing to a black one, with a design of sakura blossoms on it. 

“Then it’s yours,” Luka smiled. He pulled the pick out of it’s slot, and grabbed her hand, dropping it into her open palm. “I was able to find a sewing kit earlier,” he said as she blushed from the touch. He walked over to his desk, opening a small box that was sitting on top of it. “I… don’t know how to use any of this.” 

Marinette chuckled as she walked over. “It’s not so hard once you’re used to it,” she said, grabbing a spool of spring, and using the pair of scissors inside of it to cut the string at just the right length. She then ran the string through the needle. “Plus, all I’m doing is poking a hole through it,” she said as she did so. The needle went through cleanly, without causing any other damage to the pick. 

“Normally, the pick might get damaged, or something of the sort,” Marinette murmured as she pulled half of the string through. “But being Ladybug helps the muscles. And the suit provides some extra strength.” 

“That’s amazing,” Luka murmured, watching her in awe. 

Marinette blushed, shrugging. “It’s… it’s not that great. I’m just… doing my job. Speaking of…” 

She pulled her yoyo off of her waist, and opened it, pulling out the box that contained the snake miraculous inside of it. 

“You can store things in there?” Luka asked, surprised. 

Marinette chuckled. “Yeah. The yoyo has a lot of features. I’m sure I haven’t discovered them all.” 

She extended the miraculous box towards Luka. “Luka Couffaine,” she started, “this is the miraculous of the snake. It has the power of second chance, which allows you to go back in time and fix your mistakes. You will use it for the good of Paris.” She took a deep breath. “And you will not have to return it to me after each akuma attack. Can I trust you?” 

Luka’s eyes widened. “Wait,” he murmured. “Doesn’t Hawkmoth know my identity now? Wouldn’t it be dangerous for me and my family if I continued to be Viperion?” 

Marinette shook her head. “The form that you take when you transform depends on your own wishes. If you wish to be a snake hero that isn’t Viperion, the Miraculous will comply.” 

Luka stared at her. “I can… I can be the snake hero, then?” 

Marinette nodded. “Yes. Just not Viperion. And you’ll get to hold onto your Miraculous, this time.” 

“Oh,” Luka whispered. “Oh wow. A-are you sure?” he asked her. 

“Positive,” Marinette responded. “I’ll look forward to working with you…” 

Luka smiled as he took the box from her hand, and opened it. “I…” he hummed for a minute, in thought, as Sass materialized beside him in the air. 

“Python. I’ll be Python.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yay!! I wrote the next one as well!
> 
> I'm not super confident about this one, but... I'm really excited to draw the new design that I was thinking of for Luka!! And I was thinking of redesigning Ladybug as well, to go along with this fic!! So... that's exciting!!
> 
> I hope that you all enjoyed reading this!! I don't know exactly where it is that I'm taking this, but I do have an idea, so, well, that's where this is headed... for now. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!! :) Comments and kudos are appreciated!!
> 
> Instagram: @felkithecreator


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